More on closers and catwalks (O's lose 8-6)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles' pecking order for closers starts with left-hander Zach Britton, who's 33-for-36 in save situations this year. Next in line is Darren O'Day, who notched his third save last night.

Is Brad Brach third among the options if he's available to pitch?

"I wouldn't handicap it that way," manager Buck Showalter said before tonight's game against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

"Basically, I look at the opposition and who they have off the bench and what we have to do to get that chance. If I told you every night that we had to get three outs to win a baseball game and be up one run, we'd sign up in blood for that every night and figure out the rest of it. But it is a different ending. I don't care what anybody says.

"Actually, the eighth inning becomes that type of inning, too, in the major leagues and everybody's looking for those people, too. And it's rare if you get two people that can do that job without somebody else in support of them."

The bullpen includes two relievers who were closers in the minors this season. Oliver Drake registered 23 saves with Triple-A Norfolk and Mychal Givens had 15 at Double-A Bowie.

I asked Showalter whether he would be comfortable using them in save situations at this level.

"Comfortable? No," Showalter replied. "It's good that they have experience doing it and have pitched at the end of games. That helps them.

"We were talking philosophically whether having a closer in Double-A and Triple-A who's on your roster and potentially coming up here is a good idea. There have been times this year where Drake has pitched like three out of four days in Norfolk and is unavailable for us when we needed him.

"That's kind of how we did it with Mychal in Double-A and made him available just about all the time. With very few exceptions, he's had two or three days off in between. It's something Dan (Duquette) and I have been talking about in the future, whether it's such a good idea. But Oliver's certainly done well in that role at that level."

Dariel Alvarez is back in right field tonight after racing back on John Jaso's fly ball last night and watching it rattle around in the C ring for a home run. Alvarez stood with his arms extended, wondering exactly what happened.

"My first reaction was I went to get the ball close to the wall and I lost it. I was looking and the only thing I saw was the ball rolling in the thing over there, the catwalk," Alvarez said through coach Einar Diaz, who served as an interpreter.

"It was different because I was going back on the ball at that time and the ball stayed up there and never came down."

Alvarez said the Orioles explained the ground rules to him before the game. And this isn't the first time that he's chased fly balls inside a domed stadium.

"I played in Japan in the Tokyo Dome," he said, "so I've played indoors."

All domes are not the same.

"It's a little bit tougher over here cause the top is really white and sometimes you lose (the ball) for a little bit. But I found it again," he said.

"You have to be careful with the lights, too. But the biggest problem is the top's really white and the ball's white, too. Sometimes, it's tough."

Just another night at The Trop.

"I was wondering where it was going to hit," Showalter said. "I had a bad feeling it was going to be a ball that went over the fence. It was just a matter of which fence it went over.

"I'm glad those long ones only count as one run. But nothing surprises me."

Update: J.J. Hardy worked Rays left-hander Drew Smyly for eight pitches with two outs in the second inning and drilled a three-run homer to left field to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead. The ball traveled an estimated 424 feet.

Hardy was batting .192/.224/.269 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 43 games since the All-Star break. He was 4-for-35 this month with no home runs or RBIs in nine games.

Smyly struck out the first four batters he faced and retired the first five before hitting Steve Pearce and walking Caleb Joseph.

Update II: Tim Beckham hit a two-run homer off Tyler Wilson with two outs in the bottom of the second to cut the Orioles' lead to 3-2.

Update III: Wilson lasted only 4 1/3 innings and was charged with six runs and eight hits, with two walks, one strikeout and a home run. He threw 68 pitches, 40 for strikes.

The Rays loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, including an intentional walk to Evan Longoria, and Grady Sizemore cleared them with a double. Chaz Roe replaced Wilson.

Steven Souza, Jr. walked and James Loney delivered a two-run double to complete Wilson's line. Rays 7, Orioles 3.

And now it's 8-3 in the fifth on Nick Franklin's bloop RBI double to shallow right-center field. Roe has been charged with two runs.

Update IV: Steve Pearce hit a two-run homer in the sixth to reduce the Rays' lead to 8-5 and force Smyly out of the game. Pearce has 50 career home runs.

Jonathan Schoop singled with two outs to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Update V: The Orioles lose to the Rays 8-6 before an announced crowd of 10,697 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles have lost three times in their last 10 games by scores of 14-6, 10-1 and 8-6. Every defeat hurts as their season winds down.

Pearce hit his second home run of the night in the ninth, a solo shot that completed the scoring. He has three career multi-homer games.

Mychal Givens threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Oliver Drake struck out two and stranded two in the eighth.